Massive funk from the ADC Band – some lesser-known cats from the early 80s scene on Atlantic Records – but a group with a sense of soul and power that knocks over most of their contemporaries! For those who've ever doubted the influence of P-Funk on the rest of soul music, you only ... read moreCD

A mindblower – and the kind of record we only come across once in a blue moon! Tony Aiken & Future 2000 were an obscure mid 70s group from New York – all players skilled in the burgeoning club scene of the time, but who also had their roots in Caribbean music – coming ... read moreCD

The only album ever from Allspice – but a hell of an incredible soul record – and one that's kept the group's name strong with collectors and rare groove fanatics for years! The album's on of the best Fantasy Records productions by Wayne Henderson and his At Home team – and like ... read moreCD

A lost album from Alzo – best known as one half of the Latin/folk/free soul duet Alzo & Udine – but sounding equally great on his own! The tracks are from sessions that Alzo recorded with arranger/producer Bob Dorough (who cut some of his own great work at the time) – and ... read moreCD

An album that begins with an amazing break – and then rolls into a great batch of fuzzy guitar grooves! The set is one of the odder albums to be issued by Chess Records during its funk years – as American Gypsy were a Dutch band, recording in Holland, and the record was only licensed ... read moreCD

A hell of a great record from Ruby Andrews – a Chicago soul singer who started out sweet, but comes on hard and heavy on this righteous classic from the start of the 70s! The record's got a badass vibe you never would have expected from Andrews a few years before – with tremendous ... read moreCD

Two rare female soul sets – each recorded a two decades apart, each handled by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams! First up is a very obscure later date from Chicago soul singer Ruby Andrews – a set that's almost equal parts blues and soul, and which often features that updated ... read moreCD

A killer lost disco album – a way better club set than you might expect! The group looks extremely silly on the cover – ridiculously so, in fact – but the record's a stunning batch of jazzy club tracks with a mostly instrumental groove, and a very tight feel – not at all ... read moreCD

A funky treasure trove from Apple & The Three Oranges – a group we hardly know at all, but who really blow us away with the cuts on this collection! The groove is plenty hard right from the get-go – the best of the funky 45 underground of the early 70s – which means that ... read moreCD

A pair of great albums from this Norman Connors side project! Fantasy is righteous soul, but with a wicked groove too – a killer set from Aquarian Dream, made even better by some great Norman Connors production! In a way, Aquarian Dream were to Norman Connors what Ramp were to Roy Ayers ... read moreCD

Fantastic funky soul from Steve Arrington – the drummer who got his start in Slave, then really exploded on his own with a host of great records in the 80s! This batch of tracks is from those key initial solo years – and the set not only features all the key cuts that Steve recorded ... read moreCD

Killer work from this Chicago soul group – a set that brings together all the beautiful best the Artistics recorded for Brunswick Records! At the label, the group had that soaring, lilting vibe that virtually defined the Chicago group sound at the end of the 60s – a bit more punch than ... read moreCD

The songbird that keeps The Inc afloat returns! This third full length is once again produced by the Inc staff of 7 Aurlelius, Chink Santana and features appearances by Ja Rule and TI. Tracks include "Still Down" feat TI, "Only U", "Focus", "Don't Let Them" ... read moreCD

A lost blacksploitation treasure – and the only soundtrack we've ever seen from Motown funky drummer Jack Ashford! The album cooks with a sweet and tight groove – kicking back with a wah-wah heavy instrumental approach on some tracks, and sweeping things up with soulful female vocals ... read moreCD

One of the coolest club records ever cut – and one with a great gimmick too! That gimmick is the "hotel sheet" – an instrument created by percussionist Jack Ashford, which is a light piece of metal that's snapped back and worth to create these cool wibbly, wobbly waves of ... read moreCD

Always-great work from the team of Ashford & Simpson – the kind of a record that has them at the top of their game, even though they'd changed their overall sound over the years! The vibe here is more in an 80s groove mode than some of the duo's Warner albums, but they've still got an ... read moreCD

Darn solid work from Ashford & Simpson – one of the duo's biggest albums for Capitol Records, and a great set from their 80s run for the label! The groove here is a bit more heavy on keyboards and beats than before, but the pair still keep things plenty soulful with their positive, ... read moreCD

The title's certainly right on this one – because Atlantic Starr serve up a really brilliant blend of electro funk and mainstream soul – balanced with that near-perfect sound that made them one of the best groups of their generation! Despite the size of the combo, the sound is ... read moreCD

Atlantic Starr definitely get straight to the point on this set – bursting out strongly with an upbeat groove from the very first note – all produced to perfection by maestro Bobby Eli, in the same manner as some of his other great late 70s work for other artists! The group's a big one ... read moreCD

Smooth jazzy soul from Patti Austin – pulled from her classic late 70s recordings for CTI! Patti brought a new sophistication to soul music during the time, working in a generation with singers like Jean Carn and Marlena Shaw to forge a whole new style of modern R&B. Some of Patti's ... read moreCD

Classy soul from Patti Austin – working here with some great help from Quincy Jones, Narada Michael Walden, and others – all of whom help her find just the right space to groove nicely! Patti's one of those soul singers who always sparkles best in a smoother setting – and the ... read moreCD

A nice little collection of work by Patti – featuring tunes that run back to one of her first singles, and includes 70s work with Quincy Jones, CTI recordings, and famous duets from later years! Titles include "The Family Tree", "Razzamatazz", "Do You Love Me?", ... read moreCD

Roy Ayers in a very Afro-styled mode – working here on his own after a famous collaboration with Fela Kuti – in a set that's filled with the same sort of hard-driving Afro-Funk grooves that you'd find in Fela's classic recordings! The songs are shorter than Fela's, and with more of Roy' ... read moreCD

What can we say? This is one of the greatest soul soundtracks ever! In a market that was dominated by the big-selling Shaft and Superfly albums, Roy slipped in this masterful blend of jazzy vibes and wah wah funk that's easily one of the best-composed records of the blacksploitation genre! The ... read moreCD

One of Roy Ayers' biggest albums ever! The whole thing's an incredible album of mellow jazzy soul – and it shows Roy at the crossroads, perfecting his earlier funk style with a sweet mellow R&B edge, getting a bit slicker, but still staying on the righteous path, and opening up a whole ... read moreCD

Stellar sounds from the great Roy Ayers – an early 80s album for Polydor, but a set that's still got the wonderfully tight, wonderfully groovy feel of his late 70s albums for the label! Roy's really perfected his sense of balance by this time – and does a great job of balancing ... read moreCD

One of the rarest and greatest Roy Ayers albums of all time – the sly, funky and spiritual masterpiece He's Coming from 1971 – really the beginning of the funk years from Roy Ayers Ubiquity! This one's a totally solid mix of soulful jazz, jazzy soul and righteous funk – and it's ... read moreCD

One of Roy Ayers' best-remembered albums of the 70s – a sublime blend of mellow numbers and some of his more club-oriented grooves of the time – all wrapped together with a genius that we can only describe as Ayers-like! The album's a beautiful example of the balance that Roy was ... read moreCD

An oft-overlooked funky soul gem from the incredible Roy Ayers – taking turns with both uptempo material and more smoothed out soul sounds – all done with Roy's trademark jazzy approach to the dancefloor! No Stranger To Love is a sly, and often funky set that deserves to be mentioned ... read moreCD

An oft-overlooked funky soul gem from the incredible Roy Ayers – taking turns with both uptempo material and more smoothed out soul sounds – all done with Roy's trademark jazzy approach to the dancefloor! No Stranger To Love is a sly, and often funky set that deserves to be mentioned ... read moreCD

A live set by Roy – and pretty darn nice! The album was recorded live at London's Ronnie Scotts in 1990 – but given that Roy was playing for a British crowd that was keen on his classic work of the 70s, the set's got a very 70s-styled feel – and really takes us back to the glory ... read moreCD

Talk about a meeting of the minds – a pair of ultra-amazing classics from the team of Roy Ayers & Wayne Henderson – back to back in a single set! At the time of Step Into Our Life, Henderson & Ayers were probably the biggest names in the jazz funk business – both with a ... read moreCD

Fantastic! The lost link in the Chicago soul scene of the 60s was Baby Huey – and he was a pretty darn big link too, if you've ever seen him in pictures! Weighing in at about 300 pounds, Baby Huey was sort of a rockin' soul star who played clubs on both sides of the city, to audiences of ... read moreCD

Rockin soul from the legendary LaVern Baker – a killer collection of classic 50s work for Atlantic Records – tunes that went on to have an undeniable influence on the sound of female soul in the 60s! Baker's vocals are amazing right from the start – raw, but with a vocal range ... read moreCD

Lost funk rock from Ballinjack – the rare self-titled set for Columbia that's arguably best remembered for being so massively sampled – but the group that deserves a more widely-credited legacy! The sound is a bit like Mandrill on the best cuts, with the band going hard on the funky ... read moreCD

One of the original Dramatics, singer Ron Banks strikes out here on his own – a slept on gem from the early 80s! The set's in a similar modern soul mode to LJ Reynolds, who also worked with him in the group, and was having a bit of a solo career of his own at the time. It's got sort of a D-T ... read moreCD

One of the original Dramatics, singer Ron Banks strikes out here on his own – a slept on gem from the early 80s! The set's in a similar modern soul mode to LJ Reynolds, who also worked with him in the group, and was having a bit of a solo career of his own at the time. It's got sort of a D-T ... read moreCD

A pivotal album from The Bar-Kays – a key post-Stax set, but one that's still very firmly grounded in Memphis funk! The groove definitely shows a bit more polish than before – the same sort of shift the Ohio Players made after moving to Mercury Records – but as with the Players ... read moreCD

A monster bit of funk that's unlike anything else we can think of! Beginning Of The End hailed from The Bahamas, but don't hold that against them – because instead of being a Caribbean cliche, they took the best part of the island rhythms, and used them to forge an incredible approach to ... read moreCD

A monster bit of funk that's unlike anything else we can think of! Beginning Of The End hailed from The Bahamas, but don't hold that against them – because instead of being a Caribbean cliche, they took the best part of the island rhythms, and used them to forge an incredible approach to ... read moreCD

An incredible bit of southern funk – the first landmark LP by Archie Bell & The Drells, and the first big burst of energy from the Texas scene of the 60s! The album's incredible – with Archie up front on rough-hewn vocals, the band grooving in a mad tangle of guitar, bass, and ... read moreCD

William Bell was one of Stax's first great male singers, prefacing Otis Redding by a few years with his initial recordings for the label. However, what's not as well known is the fact that Bell also recorded some excellent duets for Stax – all of which were only ever issued as singles, until ... read moreCD

Chuck Berry makes the same London move as some of his other Chess Records contemporaries – and the result is one of Chuck's best albums from the later years! The set's not as star-studded as other efforts of this nature – but that's fine with us because Chuck really shines as the lead ... read moreCD

Wow! Bear Family outdoes every Chuck Berry anthology ever put together here, with this unbelievable 16CD box set of Chuck's most groundbreaking years at Chess, Mercury and Atco, plus a huge wealth of legendary live recordings, a 250 page hardcover book, an additional 100+ page hardbound photo book ... read moreCD

(One of the most beautiful box sets we've seen in many years – Bear Family really ups the ante here! Amazing!)

An obscure session for Big Maybelle, but a great one too – a record that has her moving past the melancholy blues of her earlier work, into a lively gospel-based mode that's surprisingly great for her voice! The sound is quite upbeat and joyous – in a style that really has Maybelle's ... read moreCD

A great overview of the important early years of Big Maybelle – work that's probably still some of her best-remembered, all done in a gutsy, soulful style that's every bit as wonderful as 50s R&B on Atlantic from Ruth Brown and Lavern Baker! The package brings together both Maybelle's ... read moreCD

The first album by Gregg Diamond's Bionic Boogie group – and a cooker of a set that follows strongly from Gregg's previous Hot Butterfly gem! Luther Vandross isn't on board this time around, but the overall groove is still totally great – upbeat, soaring, and put together with a jazzy ... read moreCD

A dancefloor classic! The album's the second by Gregg Diamond's Bionic Boogie, and head and shoulders above the rest – a sublime blend of soul and club that's hardly been matched again! Diamond manages to make things groove, but never loses sight of the soulful styles that make the record ... read moreCD

Sweet 70s funk from drummer James Black! The tunes were recorded in New Orleans, but have a bass-heavy groove that sounds a lot more like New York funk of the early 70s – tightly grooving with lots of rhythmic interplay, and a nice dose of spacey soul! About half the cuts have vocals – ... read moreCD

Sweet 70s funk from drummer James Black! The tunes were recorded in New Orleans, but have a bass-heavy groove that sounds a lot more like New York funk of the early 70s – tightly grooving with lots of rhythmic interplay, and a nice dose of spacey soul! About half the cuts have vocals – ... read moreCD

A searing debut from Black Heat – one of the best funk acts to record for Atlantic during the 70s, and a tight little group with a sound that's a mixture of New Orleans funk and New York heavy! The album's got a bit of vocals – figuring in on about half the tracks – but the main ... read moreCD

That's almost a hip hop cover on the front – one that would be years ahead of its time – but the record's a great batch of soul from this overlooked group! There's a tightness here that goes way beyond the previous album from Black Ice – a really top-shelf delivery all the way ... read moreCD

Not the band's first album – as you might think from the "start" in the title – but a classic batch of jazzy, funky, and soulful grooves from The Blackbyrds – one of those combos that few groups could match back in the 70s! The set's got a beautifully put-together feel ... read moreCD

Some of the sharpest, jazziest funk you'll ever hope to hear – a smoking collection of the legendary 70s work by The Blackbyrds on Fantasy Records! The group started as a jazz combo under Donald Byrd's supervision – right at a time when Byrd was making his own fantastic funky records ... read moreCD

A jazz funk masterpiece, and THE record by the legendary Don Blackman – the only one issued under his own name for many many years, and a famous little set that's been sampled endlessly over the years, and for good reason! The vibe here is one that's barely been matched again – a blend ... read moreCD

A massive amount of rare work from East Bay funk maestro Eugene Blacknell – an artist who never cut a full album, but managed to record a lot of great funky tracks over the years! This package is the first ever full length set to focus on Eugene's work, and it's a treasure trove of guitar-hea ... read moreCD

Mary J's second LP, and every bit as fine as the first. She's still working with Puffy and Chucky Thompson here, staying true to the commercial R&B formula that has been Blige's mainstay over her entire career. 13 tracks of the fine Brooklyn soul sound, plus a couple of interludes, including ... read moreCD

Seminal work from Bloodstone – an album that may be the group's best-remembered effort, and for good reason too! The album sets a whole new standard for harmony soul in the 70s – one that's tighter than some of the east coast groups, yet never too slick or polished – kind of a ... read moreCD

The only album we've ever seen from The Blossoms – a trio of female singers who push their music into much hipper territory for the 70s! The album's got a depth that's different than 60s girl group soul – a way of pushing the girl trio format with some touches from gospel, rock, and ... read moreCD

Blue Magic getting a bit bolder than before – adding in some heavier funk that takes them past the mellow moments of their earliest years – yet still serving up some great harmonies in the process! The change is a subtle one – heard on some of the album's more hard-grooving ... read moreCD

All the best early work of the New Orleans legend Eddie Bo – his first nine singles for the Ric label, both a and b-sides – along with originally unissued tracks as well! The work here spans a short time, but really shows an evolution in Eddie's style – from an initial start as a ... read moreCD

One of the things we love best about Angela Bofill is how she exemplifies what was so great about late 70s commercial soul, where she and other singers like Phyllis Hyman and Patrice Rushen were infusing their music with a great jazz inflected sophistication, and just plain solid songwriting, ... read moreCD

A massive amount of fast funk groovers from the mighty Hamilton Bohannon – just the kind of skittish, upbeat, and totally amazing tracks that have made him a legend for years! The sound is really stripped down – usually just bass, drums, and guitar – wrapped together in this ... read moreCD

Easy to dance your ass off with music this great – a fast, firey form of funk that's very much in the best Bohannon mode – that unique groove that was unlike anything else to hit the American scene for years to come! The record's a locomotive right from the start – a completely ... read moreCD

One of the biggest and best albums ever for Hamilton Bohannon – filled with quirky rhythms and really unusual grooves! Bohannon was one of the key forces in setting the scene for disco in the early 70s – and by the time the rest of the country was hitting the dancefloor in the middle ... read moreCD

A great little album from Booker T & The MGs – recorded in the post Green Onions years, at a time when the group was really coming together – with a tightness that perfectly illustrates their sublime Memphis instrumental groove! The album's heavy on guitar and organ, as you'd ... read moreCD

Two classic albums from this great Memphis group – with bonus tracks as well! First up is And Now Booker T & The MGs – a great little album recorded in the post Green Onions years, at a time when the group was really coming together – with a tightness that perfectly ... read moreCD

Two classic albums from these Stax Records legends – with bonus tracks too! First up is Green Onions – a legendary album of Memphis soul – and a full length set that helped redefine the sound of instrumental music in the 60s! The record's a monumental follow-up to Booker T & ... read moreCD

One of the greatest albums ever from Booker T & The MGs – and very different than their early work! The record has Book & Co taking off with a stretched-out jazzy sound – carving expanded grooves that are filled with sweet organ solos, choppy guitar riffs, and some incredibly ... read moreCD

A rare European-only collection of work by Booker T & The MGs – and one that features a fair bit of live material, too – 7 of the album's 12 tracks – which almost makes the whole thing stand out like some obscure live record from the group! There's a definite sense of sear to ... read moreCD

The full scope of recordings from The Boys Town Gang – a San Francisco trio who were almost a gay disco homage to The Supremes – given their strong lead vocals from singer Cynthia Manley! The group had a warmer sound than some of the more electric hi-energy work on the SF scene in the ... read moreCD

They're not lying with the title of this album from Brainstorm – because this classic late 70s set has the group moving into some very funky territory – stepping up the basslines even more than before, and really finding a great way to focus on the groove! The approach is right on the ... read moreCD

A tremendous little album from Brainstorm – funky and clubby at the same time – yet delivered with this righteous energy that few of their contemporaries could ever hope to match! There's a perfect melding of modes going on here that may well rival Earth Wind & Fire at their best ... read moreCD

A set that definitely lives up to its title – a stone stormer from Brainstorm – one of the tightest funky ensembles of their generation, and one of the few who could go deep while still laying down a groove! The set's got a perfect balance of modes – enough of the appeal of ... read moreCD

Not classic soul, sure, but a good batch of current tracks by an artist who's crossed over into the classic steppers scene here in Chicago. Plus, we figured that some of you might be having trouble finding this on wax – even though the CD is just about everywhere! Tracks include "Angel ... read moreCD

A classic set that goes "slam" from the very first note – and which helped to set the pace for countless ensemble funk acts to come! Brass Construction had a wonderful sound that was the best-realized version of the east coast indie club combos of the mid 70s – funky at the ... read moreCD

A pair of completely rare albums from Breakaway – a St Louis combo from the late 70s – with a groove that's equal part jazzy club and blue-eyed soul! Breakaway is the group's debut – recorded in 1977 with a surprisingly tight sound – especially given that the group were ... read moreCD

A massive double-header from Brick – two Columbia albums back to back on a single CD! First up is smoking Summer Heat from Brick – an 80s outing that furthers the tight tight groove they started back in the 70s! Given that Brick were one of the groups who really set the sound for the ... read moreCD

The first solo album from Johnny Bristol – a genius soul talent who did a bunch of great work for Motown as a writer and arranger, breaking out here on his own! Like so many other behind-the-scenes talents from the late 60s, Johnny turned out to be an excellent soul artist in his own right ... read moreCD

A disco double-header! First up is Love Shook – classic disco from Pattie Brooks, and a soaring 70s set that's right up there with the best Casablanca Records grooves of the time! The rhythms here are upbeat and lively – strings mixed in with quick-stepping rhythms, all set to the ... read moreCD

Great stuff – and the kind of group that would be easy to overlook if the tracks weren't so good! The Brothers were clearly some sort of a studio project designed to cash in on the disco craze – and they included Bhen Lanzaroni on keyboards, who'd also recorded a bit on his own as a ... read moreCD

A really amazing project – and a totally righteous little record – a set of songs all penned by Bob Dylan in the 60s, sung by a hip spiritual choir that includes performances from soul singers Clydie King, Merry Clayton, Edna Wright, and Gloria Jones! The mix of soul and gospel here is ... read moreCD

One of the best funky soul albums to come from the LA scene of the 70s – a relatively obscure indie set, but one that's shone brightly for years, thanks to attention from a host of global DJs! The style here is partly clubby, partly funk – with lots of jazzy touches that come from the ... read moreCD

Blam is right – an all-out batch of funky tracks from The Brothers Johnson – captured here right in the middle of their classic period with Quincy Jones! The Q's at the helm on production for the set, and the record's a great extension of their earlier efforts with the man – but ... read moreCD

Good domestic reissue of some very obscure sides by one of the great unsung soul groups of the early 70s. We're not sure if these guys ever put out a full album, but the tracks on here are among some of are great lost soul singles, including "You Better Believe It", "Hurry, Don't ... read moreCD